Letters to the Editor - 6/24/2013

Editor: State Sen. John Blake recently issued a statement chastising Senate Bill 922, which would establish a 401(k) for state workers, a retirement plan that nearly all private sector employees receive.

This would greatly reduce the burden on the Pennsylvania taxpayers.

If Mr. Blake really cared about pension reform, he would support the privatization of Pennsylvania's wine/liquor stores. This initiative would trim millions of dollars from the budget and would lessen the burden of the commonwealth's taxpayers. The sale of the stores is expected to bring in between $1 billion to $3 billion to fund education. It would also get the commonwealth out of the booze business.

Mr. Blake would like to keep Pennsylvania in the Stone Age in regards to alcohol.

FRANK PAGNOTTI

SCRANTON

African journey carries royal cost

Editor: In light of the first family's record setting vacations (The Washington Post estimates their latest trip to Africa will cost taxpayers up to $100 million), I propose we rename the White House the "President's Palace."

Reverting to this pre-1901 term for the residence seems appropriate and harkens back to an even earlier era when "Let them eat cake" was a popular saying among the elite.

The United States has been on the ropes for several years now.

Amid the growing scandals he'd like us to forget, President Obama will spend his lame duck years seeing the world instead of leading our nation. His wife recently took the kids to Ireland. Her trip cost us over $5 million.

For progressives who will argue: "Dubya did this" and "Dubya did that," can you not see this disconnect? The media have been slowly awakening to the scandals and excesses but it is at least stirring.

This elected spendthrift has no compunction using our money to see the world while claiming ignorance on such topics as the IRS targeting of conservatives, the AP scandal and the NSA overreach. "The buck stops anywhere but here" will be his political epitaph.

I wish them yet another happy, safe vacation, this time in Africa. My guess is they won't be visiting Benghazi.

FRANCIS X. KRANICK JR.

DUNMORE

Fair shake lacking in civics debate

Editor: In his June 20 letter, David Kveragas again questions my knowledge of basic civics. Mr. Kveragas is the last person who should question anyone's knowledge on anything. He recently wrote that it was FDR's policies that caused the Great Depression.

He claimed I ignored occasions when Democrats voted against President Obama's proposals. I never stated that I expect Republicans or for that matter, Democrats, to vote all the time with the president.

What I do expect is that when the president sends a bill to Congress that it receive fair consideration and a fair vote. This certainly has not been the case with this Congress.

Mr. Kveragas then dissected my definition of treason. He zeroed in on the word "sovereign" but ignored the words "or to the nation." I do believe the United States is a nation.

I do understand how our system is supposed to work and how it has worked since President Obama took office.

BEN EGLESIA

DICKSON CITY

Equal freedom on tax discretion

Editor: Although I am generally a supporter of abortion rights, I agree with the principle that as a matter of religious freedom, people should not be forced to support, via their tax dollars, government activities that run counter to their religious or moral beliefs.

As a Quaker, I do not want to see my tax dollars going to fund warfare. I wonder if the "pro-life" community would agree that I should have the same "religious freedom" that they wish to claim for themselves.

SKIP MENDLER

HONESDALE

Pain factor

Editor: The U.S. House recently passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortion after the point when unborn children can feel pain. It passed in the House by a mostly partisan vote of 228-196.

HR 1797 notes, "By 8 weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch. After 20 weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human, for example, by recoiling."

The science behind the concept of fetal pain is established and Dr. Steven Zielinski, an internal medicine physician from Oregon, is one of the leading researchers into it. He first published reports in the 1980s to validate research showing evidence for it.

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